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Ghana Needs Social Media Law – Egbert

By ClassFMonline.com/91.3fm
General News Egbert Faibille Jnr
MAY 30, 2016 LISTEN
Egbert Faibille Jnr

Ghana needs specific laws to tackle the growing rate of defamation on social media, private legal practitioner Egbert Faibille Jnr has suggested.

He made this call following suggestions by Ghana’s police chief that there could be a possible blackout on social media on Election Day, November 7. The idea, explained Mr John Kudalor, is to avert misinformation and provocative comments that can spark confusion in the country on the day of the polls.

Although he admits there are several questionable activities happening on social media, Mr Faibille Jnr kicked against the proposition to block social media on Election Day.

Rather, he wants “very, very specific laws to deal with social media issues” such as the Defamation Law.

He observed on Monday May 30 on Accra-based Joy FM that the Defamation Bill, which has been with Cabinet for rather too long, could deal with the abuse of social media when passed.

The Defamation Bill is government's response to a recommendation made by the Law Reform Commission to the Attorney General as far back as 1984 that the country's law on defamation, as it exists, must be clarified and reformed.

Clause 1 of the Defamation Bill, which covers who is liable for defamation, provides that: “A person is liable for defamation whereby spoken words or any other sounds, writing, printing, effigy, paintings, gestures, or any other methods signifying meaning, that person publishes defamatory matter concerning another person without lawful justification.”

At the time of the bill, the main concern for the media was the phenomenon of serial callers who often called into radio programmes to insult and slander others.

There are also concerns with serial texters who send libellous messages at defenceless individuals on radio and TV programmes.

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